Monday morning meanderings. Vol. 53

Grapeview, Washington

What a great morning!  For the first time in a month, I got up at a decent hour and enjoyed my coffee out of a mug rather than a thermos.  It was such a beautiful morning and the first time I have had the opportunity to spend it with the grandboys.  Good to do the M3 on a Monday morning, too.

Item one.  Thanks to all who sent congrats related to obtaining my CDL.  After 35+ years of working mostly with words and administrative things, to do something mechanical and “hands on” was both challenging and rewarding.  I am looking forward to getting behind the wheel of our Pete and earning a little money with the license.  The man who drives the truck for us now doesn’t need to worry about my taking his job, I will be at best a fill in driver unless we buy another truck, which we are considering.  Trying to think of ways to use a truck both commercially as well as to pull our 5th wheel.  That way we could sell the pickup and buy a car.  Glad to be done with the school but thankful it all came together.

Item two.  Small town newspapers are a hoot!  I was building a fire the other evening using the Mason County Journal for fire starter (perhaps its highest and best use) when I started reading the Journal of Record page which recounts the things the police bust people for, divorces filed and granted and a verbatim record of calls that came into the police during the last week.  I thought you might enjoy a small sampling of these calls: A caller from Kristi Court reported a peacock “running at large”.  Later another caller reported the same peacock “walking around like he owns the place”.  A caller from the 900 block of Fairmont Avenue reported receiving an “inappropriate text message and a nasty picture to go with it.”   A caller from E. Meyer Drive reported finding a cockatiel in the yard and inquired about what to do with the bird.  Then my favorite: …a caller said a Brahman bull escaped from the Mason County Fairgrounds and was headed toward Highway 101.  It was described as “big, black, three tons with horns”.

Item three. I have been thinking quite a bit lately, as well as experiencing, the battle we face as believers between faith and fear.  Hebrews says it is impossible to please the Father without faith and so our ability to please the Father is directly related to our capacity to walk in faith and reject fear.  When I was taking my CDL test and completely messing up the backing test, fear came in like a flood, almost to the point of incapacitation.  I stopped the truck, rejected the fear and spoke out loud the reality of my faith in a Father who knew what was best for me.  The fear left.  (more of my thoughts on this subject can be found here.)

There are so many people in my life who are strugging to walk in faith and reject the fear that sometimes seems overwhelming.  Questions like; “Will I ever get well?”, “Will the job work out so we can pay our bills?”  “Will we ever be able to buy a house?”  “Will we ever get back to the US with this baby?”  “Will anyone ever love me?”  …and the list goes on and on.  Fear always produces “why questions” but faith produces a “Who question”.  Either our Father loves us or He doesn’t.  Either He knows what we need and how desperate we are or He doesn’t.  It can’t be any other way or our faith is poorly placed. 

There are no simple answers or solutions to many of the questions we face in this life, but there is One who finds pleasure and delight in our choosing faith over fear.  Personally I am trying each day to choose faith when I am afraid, not so much to get something from my Father, but as the path to a relationship with Him I believe to be more precious, long term, than any of the things I think I need or want, right now.  It doesn’t always answer my questions but it does calm my fears.

Have a wonderful week.